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Sepulveda draws cheers from fans, teammates
LATROBE - The biggest cheer during Thursday night's 20-10 Steelers victory over the Arizona Cardinals was not for reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison or Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes.
No, Steelers fans saved their biggest cheer for a guy who didn't see the field during last season's Super Bowl run. Punter Daniel Sepulveda was greeted with a rousing ovation from the crowd of 58,330 when he stepped onto the grass at Heinz Field in the first quarter.
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Sepulveda, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, didn't disappoint on that punt or any others, booting his first kick 46 yards to the Arizona 15 where it was fair caught by Antrell Rolle.
Sepulveda got another rousing ovation after that as Steelers fans showed their appreciation after watching the duo of Mitch Berger and Paul Ernster average a combined 39.8 yards per punt last season.
"He's a popular guy," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior. "He's a fan favorite. He's very active in the community."
It might be that.
Or, it could be that Pittsburgh's fans realize how big of a weapon a healthy Sepulveda can be when coupled with a defense that allowed just 223 points and 237.2 yards per game in 2008.
"I told him on the sidelines he's going to hurt our defense. He's going to give teams an extra 10 yards to work with," Farrior joked before getting serious. "Oh man, he definitely can help our defense. We were looking for him last year to be a big weapon. We know what he's capable of. This is going to be a big year for him. I know he's going to help us out with field position."
Sepulveda averaged 49.5 yards on six punts against Arizona, including downing a pair of kicks inside the 20. His net average of 43.8 yards was well above the Steelers' gross average last season.
"I couldn't do anything to hurt this defense," said Sepulveda, a fourth-round draft pick in 2007. "If I can put them in a better position, that's just going to help us."
Indeed. The Steelers' net punting average of 35.6 yards ranked 12th in the AFC. Only Cincinnati had a worse gross average.
The Steelers expect a healthy Sepulveda to improve that a great deal.
"He's back. We're going to be seeing a lot of big things from him this year," said linebacker LaMarr Woodley. "When you've got a punter like that and he's putting it up there with all that hang time, 50 or 60 yards deep, you can't ask for anything better than that."
Odds and end zones
Center Justin Hartwig participated fully in practice for the first time at training camp. Hartwig had been sitting out with an injury to his big toe that occurred in July. ... Running back Rashard Mendenhall sat out practice Saturday with a thigh contusion. ... Running back Mewelde Moore, offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton and wide receivers Tyler Grisham and Brandon Williams missed practice Saturday.
